Back to 1992: the moment Gordon Brown pronounced the Tories dead

I ended my blog about David Cameron's appearance this morning with the thought that maybe he has just experienced his soapbox moment. Just as John Major started to turn round the 1992 election when he took to his soapbox, perhaps Cameron has found his mojo after ending an appearance in front of around 60 apprentices to warm applause and laughter? That is no mean feat because a few minutes earlier the Tory leader had been heckled. We are going to be hearing a lot about the 1992 election; this was the year the Tories came back from the dead to win a fourth successive term. Will Gordon Brown do the same or will Cameron, who has experienced a bumpy few weeks, regain his stride and make it to No 10? Expect more of the following. Benedict Brogan over at the Daily Telegraph has unearthed (with a little help from Guido Fawkes ) a hilarious clip of Brown on the BBC Election Night programme in 1992. Savour this exchange between Labour's shadow spokesman for trade and industry and David Dimbleby: DD: Mr Brown, in government or not? GB: I hope so. It looks as if the Conservatives have lost their overall majority. It looks as if they have no mandate to govern. It looks as if there has been a bigger swing to Labour than at any election since 1966 and that we are going to win a substantial number of seats ... But it is too early to say and I don't think anybody would want to make a prediction. DD: How would you define a Conservative defeat and at what point would you say the Conservatives and John Major should resign – if they don't get 326 [seats]? GB: Well, it looks as if the Conservatives are not going to get 326. It looks as if they have done extremely badly. It looks as if there is a big swing to Labour ... We have got to wait and see what exactly the final number of seats are. One thing is clear: the Conservatives at the end of this evening will have no mandate to govern. They have lost the election. And just how badly did the Tories do that night? On the plus side for Labour, it experienced a 3.6% swing. On the minus side for Labour, the Tories clocked up just over 14m votes – 2.5m ahead of Labour – and more than Margaret Thatcher ever won. Major, to his surprise, found himself back in No 10. To be fair to Brown, he was obviously speaking on the basis of the BBC Election Night exit poll, which was famously wrong.